City expands bus fare enforcement to boost revenue, combat violence

The city is cracking down on bus riders who don’t pay their fares, in an effort to make buses safer and curb the steep loss in revenue.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said community safety officers began increased fare checks on buses as part of daily patrols in late August.

“(It is) most of all… to make our transit system safer. We have heard from (the bus drivers union) that up to 90 per cent of the incidents, where there’s disruption or assault on the buses, are (caused by) individuals who never paid… So, part of the fare enforcement is to keep individuals off the bus who would be causing problems,” said Gillingham.

The city hopes to claim more revenue by ramping up fare enforcement. Winnipeg Transit estimates that between $7 million and $10 million is lost each year due to unpaid rides, said Gillingham.

Community safety officers, who are tasked with patrolling buses and bus stops, mainly approach people waiting for buses to ask if they have their fare ready before they board a bus, he said.

The mayor said those who don’t intend to pay a fare are denied boarding. While he stressed a verbal interaction should be sufficient in most cases, Gillingham said the safety officers would be able to detain people, if necessary.

“I expect situations like that to be very few and far between. I think what we’re looking for is a deterrent to keep, frankly, individuals off the bus who are a problem on the bus,” he said.

The mayor said it’s possible that safety officers could also approach riders to check if they’ve paid their fares once they’ve boarded a bus, though he’s not sure how often that might happen.

The city has about 30 community safety officers, the mayor’s office confirmed, who have been deployed to routes with the most violent incidents and other disturbances. Gillingham said transit will use payment evasion data to determine where to concentrate fare checks.

The community safety team started out with 23 officers in February 2024.

Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said the recent increase in officers will give them more time to enforce ride payments.

Lukes (Waverley West) said she expects the officers will bring a firmer approach to the task than the city has in the past.

“We have to be a little more assertive in our approach. I think they are going to hold (potential passengers) back if they don’t pay,” she said.

Lukes said the actual cost to the city to provide a bus ride is around twice the price of each ticket, so it’s important the city gets the most revenue possible from the system on taxpayers’ behalf.

“I think it’s long overdue,” she said.

Both Lukes and the mayor said there may be some exceptions offered to people who need to board a bus for safety reasons or who can’t afford rides.

The head of the union that represents Transit drivers welcomed the new enforcement.

“We have, for years, been identifying the excessive lost revenue, the risk to the operators and the riding public… and the connection between fare evasion and acts of violence,” said Chris Scott, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505.

Scott said community safety officers have special training that makes them suited to payment enforcement.

He said drivers have not reported increased violence since the new strategy began. In most cases, bus operators have reported people who refuse to pay walk away without boarding a bus, said Scott.

A request to interview someone from the community safety team or Winnipeg Transit was not granted on Friday.

In a brief email, a spokesperson noted the community safety team and transit inspectors will plan bus patrols and visits to transit hubs together to do fare enforcement.

“This includes both education and deterrence,” wrote spokeswoman Julie Dooley.

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Fare enforcement was typically done by Transit inspectors prior to the changes.

Meanwhile, the city has put out a tender for a new payment system that would allow riders to pay by tapping their phone, debit, or credit card, in addition to existing fare options. The city included $10.5 million for fare payment updates in the 2025 budget.

Lukes said she expects the actual changes to fare payment will arrive in about 1.5 to two years.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.